


Rouge Traces

by MobiAblackout



Category: Naruto
Genre: Blood and Violence, I Don't Even Know, M/M, Ninja, Not Beta Read, Omega Senju Tobirama, Samurai, Worldbuilding
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-16
Updated: 2021-01-16
Packaged: 2021-03-13 23:55:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,937
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28786797
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MobiAblackout/pseuds/MobiAblackout
Summary: Madara finds Tobirama greatly wounded in a cave after meeting his ancestors.
Relationships: Senju Hashirama/Uzumaki Mito, Senju Tobirama/Original Male Character(s), Senju Tobirama/Uchiha Madara
Comments: 3
Kudos: 76





	Rouge Traces

**Author's Note:**

> This world has some similarlies with canon.
> 
> But note:
> 
> Samurai clans hold more power and resources than shinobi clans. 
> 
> Civilians are afraid of shinobi and avoid them. 
> 
> Samurai shoguns hire shinobi secretly to do dangerous and dirty missions for them. 
> 
> Each of the elemental nations are a continent in this. 
> 
> Alphas and omegas are very rare.

The morning sun is barely illuminating the masterpiece this deep inside of many caves that Madara came to observe in the last three years or so, his black and scarlet spinning eyes can see what is on the surface and beyond, in some of these ancient statues jewels and silver are used but hidden from the other's eyes, duckweeds had mossed all over the six stony humans that are made in such delicate details that only his dōjutsu can memorize and copy. Their eyes are displaying different Mangekyō patterns, their hand pointing at the ceiling, to those who without Mangekyō sharingan it looks like their hands are pressed together but it's only a permanent genjutsu, might have been a special ability of one of his ancestors.

Focusing on the chakra in his feet, with a jump Madara reaches and hangs from the modillion ceiling upside down, it is truly astonishing, the legendary Rinne Sharingan painted on the massive cupola, craved in heart of the highest mount in the west side of Hi no Kuni, Madara bits his thumb to draw blood from it, pressing the fresh laceration directly on the center of the arc, then the black spot, twice as long as the length of his arm moves, an opening.

The hall that he steps into is without a shadow of a doubt is the most mesmerizing sight he has ever laid his blessed eyes on. It has been designed for only sharingan users to see, the hall walls paintings are kaleidoscopic, colorful, and quite gaudy in his opinion. The fascinating substance of it all is that they are animated, moving before his very eyes. Perhaps trying to tell a story.

" Seeking stability, one god was divided into yin and yang, these opposing two acting together obtain all things in creation."

Those sentences are all the Uchiha can think about as he watched the color dance. Yin and Yang, Alpha and Omega, Senju and Uchiha can give birth to the most powerful being on the earth and bring peace to the world.

"I've been wanting for centuries for a visitor, what is your name, young man."

A shudder runs through Madara's spine as he hears the deep but young voice speaking out of nowhere, there is a man or rather a ghost since he is transparent, the ghost has straight long hair that fallen on the stairs and finally the ground, his facial features are delicate, the most outstanding entity is his clothing, there are made of thin silk barely covering his body. 

"Madara." He blurts out. 

The other doesn't stand up from the throne he is sitting on, a thin grin forming on his lips. "A gorgeous heavenly flower, people would mistake your name for spots," The other giggles brushing his fingers in swirly motions through his also transparent hair. "I'm Uchiha Kaha, the architect of this place and the last to have Mangekyō before you. What has brought you here? My guess is the stone tablet of Naka Shrine." 

"Your guess is right Kaha-sama, however, I've been after a mythical creature, kyuubi no kitsune, for awhile but stumbled upon this absolute peak of artistry, although I'm no artist." Madara feels kinda silly and more embarrassed as the other giggles again, hand covering his mouth. 

"I'm flattered but it's truly a disappointment that the next generations are no artist like us, Uchiha used to function with selling their top-notch art, everybody was a master in something, you name it, however, puppetry was always a specialty of a wind country clan, named Akasuna." the other frowns head lowers like he's trying to remember something that is long forgotten. 

There is only silence for some moments.

"Despite waiting for so long for you, we have little time to waste, come closer Madara."

As Madara walks to the other, the door of the hall opens up and the ghost guides him through the pitch-black darkness until they reach a stand, deemed by a red light that has no source. 

"Last years of my short life, we got involved in a feud with the Senju and considering your presence, it is continuing," Kaha sighs, hands brushing elegantly on the seal painted on the stand. 

"Kaha-Sama, years have passed and nobody has a mere idea why we are at war, the only reason is to take revenge for those who we lost but we all know it's just a never-ending cycle of hatred and pain." 

Madara doesn't want to be a good guy like Hashirama so hard tries to be, quite the opposite, he detests the act, but he selfishly would do anything to reach his goals, and protecting his brother is the only motivation he has, the sole reason that keeps him sane and alive. 

The other head drops low again. It's like the other too has forgotten. 

"You all have the right to know what was it all about, I mated a Senju Alpha, I gave birth to a child with laminated purple eyes, the child was powerful and seeks conflict above all, my babe, my own son brought fear to Senju clan they couldn't stop him until a young girl that possessed mokuton put a stop to his mindless rage by first destroying his eyes then killing him." The other gasps at the end, hands fisting as his hair curtain his face but Madara still can see the ancient aggression in Kaha's eyes. 

The Young Uchiha doesn't know how to feel about the story he just heard, years had passed and it truly doesn't matter why the whole feud started but Senju for generations feared them and it has become one of their treats throughout centuries, the ultimate power that is talked about on stone tablet is the cause of so many death of his kin, changed the peaceful life of artistry Uchiha clan and farming Senjus. 

"The gift that I will be giving you, going to sway the war in favor of Uchiha and will end the conflict in Hi no Kuni once and for all."

The other unlock the seal painted on the stand as he goes through a complicated series of unfamiliar hand signs which leads to summoning a dragon, or rather the dragon which fable says where the sharingan comes from, the creature has a scroll on his mouth, upon dropping it, the scroll rolls over to Kaha. 

"My minuscule chakra is going to run out after summoning Nihon no ryū, I'll be joining the rest of my soul in pure lands, Amaterasu bless you, my son."

Then Kaha is gone like he was an imagination. 

Madara eyes the dragon and the unrolled scroll completely, he feels dumbfounded, the Uchiha has no talent in Fūinjutsu and Kaha just left him with no explanation.

"I see you are quite lost over there, you mortal being." The dragon grumbles, leaving Madara in cold sweat as he states right at the sole swirling Rene Sharingan displayed in front of him, one single sharp tooth of the Crimson scaled being is longer than him and half. "There has not been day in my long life that I don't curse myself for giving you and your kind a fraction of my soul, you did nothing but make my life miserable, I went from serving 

Amaterasu-kami to being disowned and roaming in this place, discounted and isolated from time and space."

"You old hag ramble too much, there must be a reason why Kaha-sama summoned you, I listened to history too much today, frankly I'm quite sick of it, just tell me what to do with this seal and I'll be out of your hair, or rather scales." the human finally finds the courage to talk back. 

Madara knows for whatever reason this creature needs him, so being afraid of his grumbling and grunting although an instinctive reaction, is absurd. Some smoke comes out of his massive nose, so hot that Madara is sure his blood boils, the other is triggered and probably would chase him around just to either test or put him in his place. 

"You truly have a piece of my soul in you, you hot-headed impatient Uchiha." The other huffs, clearly too amused. "Kaha made this place to push his own agenda, to show his artistry to a pair of eyes that will never forget. I'm not going to lie, I'm too want you for my own benefit, although I can't deny you are indeed the chosen one for this, Kaha was right, unlocking the fourth stage of sharingan is a test that indicates, the Uchiha is probably mentally strong with a great purpose in mind." then the dragon roams around him, sizing him up with the one visible eye of his. "Get to the work, I will help you." 

Madara spends a long time in a place that time doesn't exist without sleep and food, reading the scroll that is as long as Kaha's hair and wider than Nihon's Jaws some words are out-dated and most of it doesn't make sense but Nihon helps him and they unlock then bicker then unlock, after its all set and done the six seals are broken. Madara is certain that Uzumaki's secrets and specialty in Fūinjutsu has nothing to do with what is going on here, where he should read every sentence and only when he understands them and feeds his chakra into it the seals unlock which all of these would have been impossible without Nihon's assist. 

Finally, the giant scroll rolls on its own and smallens until it's made into a normal-sized one. 

"Inside of that are six pairs of Mangekyō Sharingan sealed which will only break at your will." 

Madara nearly jumps to grab the small scroll but holds himself back and gracefully picks it up. "What should I do with these, lead over the land of fire like a dictator, making every being afraid of our sacred eyes that should be the symbol of love." 

Nihon groans, Madara can tell it steams from fondness and pride, after all, they spend probably three nights and days together. "That probably was Kaha's plan, each of these eyes possess different abilities, you, young man should act as you deem right, I trust you and those who you trust to free me from this place, now let me guide you out of this loophole." 

Then Nihon starts walking toward the light. Madara swears it wasn't there before. clinging to the scroll that feels heavier than it should. The responsibility of such power has been given to him by his ancestors, and the power he sought through Kyuubi no Kitsune has been found in another place, although he won't give up on finding the fox. Madara is grateful that he hadn't found the myth sooner since the whole bijuu thing creeps him out and using them more than likely will bring great damage to innocent people.

They reach the entrance of the cave which is not the one he stumbled upon.

"You said I can free you, but how?"

"You were sick of history lessons, if you listened to me talk when we first met, you have had it figured out by now, Madara."

Then he disappears, Nihon and the pinched black space as his prison. If it wasn't for the scroll in his hand Madara would have assumed it was a silly dream during one of his naps under the sun, probably on the breezing place beside the koi pond.

He pokes his head out to find that he's on the border of Taira, however, it seems like a strong hurricane just past this area since there are some broken trees here or there but the morning sky is clear with some fluffy clouds far and few between, Madara summons Akane, hopping on her back to get to the Uchiha compound as soon as he can, his guess is he has been four days in the search and there is no telling whether there was a battle during his absence which would not be a problem since his spies insured that Tobirama would be away on a mission too and Madara trusts Hashirama to go easy on Izuna and other enemies like Hyuuga are not a concern. 

Expanding his senses Madara nearly loses his balance, he can sense Tobirama in one of the caves of mountains getting himself together, Madara concedes his chakra. 

"Akane-chan we are changing plans, go to the east side of mount Katsuragi, I sense the kitsune there."

"Dara-kun we observe there before, there is nothing," Akane complains but changes her direction immediately. "Do you mean that Senju by kitsune?" 

"I mean we couldn't capture the kyuubi but we are going to meet a kitsune, being able to break that iceberg is on my bucket list, you know that." 

It doesn't take long till they reach the opening of the cave which strangely is not sealed, Madara has been under the impression that Tobirama is an expert in the art and he directly has been thought by Uzumaki, some say he is even better considering that brilliant mind of his. 

Poking his head inside, sharingan activated, he sees Tobirama not too deep in the cave on his back, he is greatly wounded and from this close Madara can sense his chakra even better, deepocean-spark-fertility, what? The kitsune is an omega, there has not been an omega in the land of fire in years, maybe decades, no wonder the other hides his dynamic, if the news breaks, all the clans not only on the west but the whole continent will be after him. 

With his gunbai in hand and his too favorite hawks on each shoulder, Madara steps in. 

"Nita, Nika pin him down we don't want him to flee, do we?" 

"Yes, Madara-sama." They shout in sync. 

Madara observes the other, it's like he fought a whole squad but there are no burns or bruises on his body, they're all from sword or arrow, samurai. All of his injuries are cared for and expertly stitched, no Iryō Ninjutsu has been used except one on his side. The other is clean so he didn't crawl his way here considering both legs were wounded. This image of him is odd, so uncharacteristic of the white demon, maybe someone found him and helped, seems the most probable scenario. 

-

Getting ready for a mission is the most important factor in the percentage of success, from counting the shuriken and kunai to checking the explosive tags one by one, polishing the sword, and sealing an extra one. Planning and plotting for every possibility, everything can play a major role in a mission from weather to how sharp a kunai is, with how the clouds are moving the omega predict there's a storm coming but that shouldn't matter for the best suiton user around, actually that's the reason he is sent to this mission, fighting in bad climate is an advantage for him when it's deadly for others. 

The only step left is to get some sleep and retrieving his chakra till dawn since his chakra is still low from the errand he just got back from, his father put a lot of hope in him, success of the missions means more money, better clothing and food, at the end more children and healthier people, more shinobi to send to the war, more luckily to win against Uchiha.

The amount of honeypot missions Butsuma turned down to keep his second son pure for a political marriage to take advantage of probably worth the yearly income of a small shinobi clan, not that Tobirama himself is eager to get an assignment like that. The stories of omega ninja's who accidentally mated a rich musty alpha in such way is telling why an heir should avoid them, his hypocrite father doesn't even try to protect him from death, so far he takes most of the suicide missions. 

This one has nothing to do with his dynamic, as easy as it is to spy on a merchant even well guarded by a shinobi clan (Hyuuga from what he gathered) to get money from one of many shogun of samurai clan in the west side of the Hi no Kuni, Taira clan. He should be more than ready for an ambush from Minamoto considering the feud going on under the unconcerned and under-qualified daimyo of the fire continent. 

Harashi Genji, the cunning shogun of the Minamoto, will probably send his best squad to kill him with them gone, the Taira clan will have a ray of hope in the losing battle. 

Getting ready to sleep just as the sun is setting Tobirama easily drifts away, reviewing everything in his head a couple of times, there's a lot to worry about. 

-

Strong wind starts blowing just as Tobirama leaves the border of the Senju lands, fortunately, he still can use his chakra to manipulate wind in the lush jungle, otherwise it would have been hard to travel in others' territories with conceding chakra in this weather which still is going to be a bigger concern very soon. 

As Tobirama uses branches to speed up to move past the Nara borders before the hurricane that he can sense is coming full force, he barely dodges the arrow shooting his way but it scratches his cheek. Expanding his senses he finds twenty other samurai far from his location, using a bunshin to deceive his hunters, Tobirama finds a place to hide. Knowing that these warriors won't leave him alone until they have his head on a silver plate for Minamoto shogun, he decides the best is to lure them toward the greenwood from the heights of the mountains where they are hiding between rocks and cliffs. 

As expected the bunshin momentary distracts them, enough to give Tobirama time to find a place with thick entangled trees, this way they can't hit him with their samurai arrows that are incredibly fast, even for him. It doesn't take long for them to start moving toward his hideous. 

Using chakra might be forbidden for samurai, there's no denying that they are as formidable as shinobi, however, they always move and fight in big groups considering their population is thrice as shinobi and their slowest warriors are faster than an average ninja. 

From between lush branches of the tree, Tobirama can see, unlike him, they are heavily guarded with armor, kunai and shuriken are out of the question, his sword is still in the sheathe over his back for when he has to fight them one on one. Explosive tags will be very useful and ninjutsu. Conspiring the wind has dropped for now, this would do. 

Suiton: Kirigakure no Jutsu

The heavy mist covers the whole area, the Senju learned this particular jutsu from a Yuki who taught him the land of wave well-known technique because Tobirama saved his life from bloodline hunters, the boy was barely nine. 

Despite the twenty samurai scattered over the area, Tobirama shushins his way through them and before they can get away from the fastest shinobi in Hi no Kuni he marks six of them with explosive tags and tries to flee, hiding again, an arrow hits right on his left thigh as he jumps to land on another tree, that could have been his head. 

Biting his lips to prevent himself from as much as sighing, considering his new injury and his location revealed, another arrow is shooed towards him, another, then another, soon he is being chased away from his destination towards clearer lands, not being able to dodge an arrow gashes his bicep. 

The Senju gets rid of the repeatedly shooting arrows as the twenty samurai backs him on a field, considering the vapor in the air he easily draws water from it. 

Suiton: Mizu Kamikiri

Again with the same jutsu he tries to slice through the slower ones on the enemy team, whose armors are torn and burnt with explosive tags, the technique would work for them but it's too slow for the others. 

Five of the six the aimed enemies get slaughtered, cut in half, as the one that lost their hand was able to avoid, rips themselves vertically on the stomach with a small, thin sword, from what Tobirama knows the other got indecisive between life and death. How ridiculous. 

Six of them are out, fourteen left. 

Tobirama doesn't have the amount of chakra his brother has, unlike Hashirama he can't use one after another high-level jutsus, if it wasn't for his intelligence and control Butsuma would have sold him to a shogun for easy money instead of keeping him to marry him off to Uzumaki. He can't say he knows every Suiton technique either, since residents of master of the style are Mizu no Kuni and Nami no Kuni, instead he is a genius making jutsus on the fly and controls the water without a problem. 

The grass is covered with water, surprises them as the enemy struggle to move with water covering them to the knee and slowly but surely approaching to drown them as the ninja gets to stand on the surface of the shallow slump he made to flee. If only he could have got close enough to trap them with Suirō no Jutsu but that would lead to engaging swords, Tobirama shivers thinking about it. 

A samurai shushin in front of him, then another on his left then right, and his back. 

These four are the only ones to survive and probably the best Minamoto samurai, clashing swords with these fighters should be an honor and probably the death of him. His enemies' swordplays are massively superior to him and any fellow shinobi in the world. They use techniques that are kept secret for centuries, they don't need to put a seal on the heart or tongue of each one to make sure nobody will ever speak of their secrets, samurai are taught to be honorable and do what they have been told, harakiri is an easy way out from a situation where they are forced to divulge. 

Good thing he is great with katana. Taking advantage of ninjutsu against samurai is nothing new for shinobi, that way fighting all of them at once will be a possibility. 

Suiton: Kirigakure no Jutsu

Only one of them clashes their sword against him, the others hide away in trees to be safe from being drowned. With this modified version of the jutsu, the mist is so heavy that only he with his sensory abilities knows where they are and from which angle the sword is coming his way. The heavily armored fighter tears his other tight and only then Tobirama becomes aware of the amount of blood he has lost. An arrow suddenly pierces his shoulder blade. The moment of distraction was enough to get him even more wounded but he dodges the shots one after the other. 

His opponent is the only one in their squad that is wearing full iron armor, and it will be a vessel for a small Raiton jutsu to end them with an electric shock, his katana should make a contact with the armor of the other for a moment, not going to be easy, he should pick a usually unprotected spot, the lower back. 

Only three left. 

This trick won't work on the two he feels stationed on the ground, so getting close to them is outrageous, long-ranged jutsu only then. 

Hijutsu: Sensatsu Suishō

Comparing to the previous opponent the two are fast and more agile but less skilled with sword, which makes it harder for him to hit them with his water senbon, but it has weakened them, they will be running out of stamina trying to avoid his attacks, from time to time they get close enough to leave a gash on him, he is repeatedly losing blood and heavily wounded, finally, the two are tired enough. 

Suiton: Suiryū Kōbaku 

Their armor was useless against the force of huge water bullets, only one left. 

The mist is clearing with showering rain and the hurricane that he predicted is approaching, this samurai is the same one that he sensed his small undeveloped chakra is behaving oddly and the undertone of it is so familiar to him, it's like the other is suppressing his chakra, a shinobi in samurai disguise, no, that can't be. 

The sole enemy he has left is taller than him, it's hard to tell his built, considering his clothing, he should be the strongest, or more probably the youngest of the group. So far the other survived his deadly jutsus, either way, underestimating him would be stupid. 

"Despite being a foul shinobi you are worthy of dying on my blade." 

Samurai rarely talk to their opponents unless they are going to praise them for their effort and then end them, so this one is confident that he can defeat him, Tobirama does not blame him. 

The other moves and he is fast, faster than him in this state, has agility and fluency in his movement and how he wields his weapon, the man or rather boy gracefully avoids all of his attacks. 

Tobirama knows a reluctant warrior to kill when he sees one, samurai don't play with their enemies, their kill is always as clean and painless as possible. This boy is an oddball of weird familiar chakra and one of the best kenjutsu and taijutsu users he has ever fought against. 

If the other doesn't want to kill him, he flees, testing if the other will still follow him. 

He does, he is wounded and the other man easily catches up with him. 

He only needs two hand signs to use his water dragon, this shortened version developed by him that only those with water affinity and great control can use. 

Horse, dog. 

The massive dragon that was made of rain used up a great chunk of his chakra and he can only control its movement for a short time before it dismisses, clearly, worth it, the man mostly avoids the aquatic creature to get close to him. 

A kunai to the mask he's wearing and it's broken. 

He breathes hitches, mind for the first time since his birth is not working, his whole body frozen, his vessels filled with ice, legs trembling. 

Those mismatched eyes, the two-toned hair. 

"Outoto." 

Tobirama can barely hear himself, the others move and everything fades to black. 

-

He wakes up in a cave, alive. There's no way to tell how many days have passed since that stormy morning he fought the Minamoto forces, from the thunder peal that echoes through his hideous and the smell of the rain, the thunderstorm is still raging. Everything is black so it must be night. 

His body hurts, everything hurts and his chakra is not enough for healing, the huge gashes on his side and thighs, which are no longer bleeding, stitched, if he does not heal himself quickly they will be infected. Itama.

Itama, his outoto, his cute, soft-hearted, talented outoto stitched him neatly like an expert healer.

The thought that his brother is still alive, somewhere out there tears a sob out of his throat, tears streaming down his face, Tobirama can't even remember the last time he cried, probably when he was five, his mother had died one week after giving birth to his last sibling, a sister, a sister that he held more dearly than anything in the world, smoother in her cradle. Itama is alive somewhere out there and he can't go after him. Too weak, always too weak. 

He falls asleep. 

  
  


The second time Tobirama wakes up from a nightmare full of spinning red eyes staring at him. Nothing new, he has seen the same old nightmare over and over again since he remembers.

Scanning himself he finds out his wound is not infected and still fresh so it must not even be a day, if he moves now more than likely the way he stitches will be turned. The hit that he took on the side tore his kidney, healing vital organs are always a delicate matter which requires a lot of chakra thus he's going to be exhausted for a half a day after this but he manages. Can't waste chakra on the wounds that will be healed soon, no matter how deep. 

Itama, he can't stop thinking about him, can't get over the fact that he is alive, he can only pray that Minamoto only wanted his mission to be sabotaged and not the ghost head. If the latter is the case Itama will be more than likely forced to commit suicide in the name of honor. A pang of worry evades his heart, he can't lose his only full-blooded brother again, he just can't. Tobirama will find him and talk to him, get him back to the Senju clan, Itama should have easily killed him in the state he was, he could have ended it as they got engaged with weapons, the other was superior and less exhausted, the other let him break his mask like he had it planned. 

The Senju knows Minamoto is a clever shogun and won't run a mission for his best forces to get slaughtered knowing that those samurai where no match for him one on one instead if even one of them could have survived the test, will be praised for it and given more profitable opportunities in the future. 

Musing, Tobirama falls asleep again. 

  
  


The third time he wakes up two huge red-tailed hawks are grabbing his arms, holding him down. Tobirama can sense a massive chakra in his hideous. 

"Madara-sama, he finally woke up." 

His eyes snap open, the hot, thick chakra that he will be able to recognize anywhere, even from miles away. Madara is looking at him and he doesn't need sensing to know how amused the other man is to have the Senju on his back. The other is in full armor on black clothing, his gunbai resting threateningly on the ground, considering how fastly his chakra is pouring toward his eyes, the Uchiha has his sharingan activated. There is only one man in the world whose blood will not run cold at having this creature close to them and that's his anija. 

"Hmm, took this mission for two purposes and got you as a bonus, kitsune." 

He sounds so smug, it makes him sick to his stomach, Madara and Hashirama are the only alpha on the west side of fire country and the only ones that Tobirama has ever come to interact with beside Arashi, alphas are rare but not as rare as omegas, and a male omega is even rarer. Now that he has his seals inactive Madara knows his dynamic, what a shame, the other probably is already fantasizing about him, Tobirama can sense the other chakra has a pang of lust in it. 

"He's an omega, Madara-sama, who would have thought." One of the summons talks, he has a soothing voice which is common among avian summons. The hawk losen his claws a little considering his second sex because omegas are delicate flowers and should be treated with care, it's only how everybody thinks but people like him were only abused and used throughout history, the hawk forcefully grabs his arm again. Good. 

"Oh, yeah definitely amusing Nika-kun, isn't he a lovely thing, he looks like a moon rabbit, a lovely, sacred prey for my hawks." 

Madara is talking all this shit to get him agitated, knowing this his blood still boils hearing the alpha talk. 

"I can sense you are already aroused, being just a meter away from me, what is it Madara? where is that great control you are so well known for." his voice gets louder at the end oozing sarcasm, there's no one in the continent that doesn't know Madara has no leash. It hurts to talk since his throat is like deserts of wind country. Coughing a couple of times he tastes metallic dried liquid in his mouth. 

Madara is hardly impressed. 

"Master, you should put the Senju in his place." The other hawk pierces his claws more forcefully, drawing blood. 

"Oh Aniki you are so mean, the kitsune is just trying to show that he can be a good mate for Madara-sama." Nika, to Tobirama's annoyance, argues with his older brother. 

"Nika has a point, Nita-kun." Then he leans down and presses a leather bottle on his lips. "You are wounded and probably haven't drunk for days, here." Tobirama stares at the brim of the object. "Look," the other swallows a mouthful then presses it on his lips again. "it's not poisoned, don't be a snob." 

He drinks from it, a mouthful then another. 

"Thank Madara-sama!" Nita urges him, forcing the nails of his claws into his meat, his behavior reminds him of Okuroi, he misses his fluffy snow leopards but summoning him would take a great amount of his chakra. 

"Nita you're being grumpy again, Tobirama is exhausted, what do you say? we can take him home." The Uchiha suggests, a toothy smirk forming on his face. 

"What are you talking about? You want to take me to the Uchiha as your concubine?" He yells this time, the water refreshed his throat. 

"Now that you mention it, it's a great idea, I mean I see no obstacle in the way," a chuckle as Madara watches him become even more distressed. "don't work yourself up Senju, Hashirama is too precious to me to hurt his little brother." 

The older man paces the dark space back and forth a couple of times, Tobirama expands his senses and the world sparks to clarity, beside Madara there's no being in close radar either familiar or interested in helping him (he can somehow sense Itama near but it might be just him mixing up). With his injuries and two giant hawks holding him down there's no way out, even if he frees himself to get past the most feared shinobi in the world, (depends on who you are asking some say the white demon is more frightening.), especially in this state is unobtainable. 

"I want you to promise me something." 

Tobirama is shocked, all that fuss for a promise, anything that comes out of this man's mouth is irrational. laughable, promises break in the shinobi world as easy as breathing, hell you can't even trust your own brother, Madara apparently wants to make a pact with the enemy. 

"Not a promise, more of request, I want you to let me mate you, you have to hide it of course but when Butsuma is dead which won't be long considering his health you reveal my mark, Uchiha head and Senju heir, there won't be a person to have a valid argument against that." 

Tobirama is not completely unimpressed, for a long time he thought the Uchiha is a dictator and gets through meetings with the law of whoever shouts louder is right but Madara is just as much a manipulator as Hashirama is. 

"If you have any right bone in your body you will gracefully accept my rejection and get to leave me alone." 

Madara looks disappointed as he literally was hoping for a positive answer. "But." 

"There's no but Uchiha, the answer is no merely because I can't trust you and have a fiance." 

Madara chakra flair with anger and possessiveness, so the news of his engagement hasn't reached the others in the land of fire yet, it's fairly new, he and Uzumaki Arashi have been promised to each other since childhood, that much has been known.

"So your father selling you to Uzumaki as concubine is not a problem, you are going to be nothing more than a childbearing machine to them." Madara fires back and Tobirama can feel the other's burning jealousy that sparks through him, if the depth of his sensing wasn't a top-secret only known by his brother, he would have thought Madara was doing it on purpose. 

"I'm not a concubine, Uzushio and it's clans are far too modernized to practice such barbaric act which is common in other countries plus I have no intention to destroy the alliance with them either, not to mention that I don't wanna break my brother's heart by ruining his marriage with Mito-hime." So many reasons and these are not even personal ones he has against mating the wild Uchiha.

"But Hashirama values the peace with Uchiha above all." 

"That's where you are wrong, my brother wants peace with everybody, especially the Uchiha because the feud with your clan is nothing but illogical garbage mainly going on based on the distrust." 

There is only tranquil after that, although Tobirama is staring into the darkness he can tell Madara is eyeing from head to toe, eyes lingering here or there for some moments, Tobirama doesn't know what to feel about the Uchiha sudden attraction towards him, it certainly makes him feel uneasy but deep down he is fighting how much he enjoys it. 

"If you promise me to meet me five days from now with your brother I will drop you somewhere on Senju borders." 

"If I don't?" 

"Expect a bloody battle on the same day." 

-

The sky is a combination of blue and yellow, the afternoon sun is burning between the lush mountains, after the storm, there is only some cirrus clouds left far-flung, looking at them passing and the blazing sunset would have been more amusing if he wasn't laid on the infamous red-tailed hawk, although flying over neutral lands but it's still unsafe, where anybody, shinobi or samurai can see them and attack, Madara says he travels like this on daily basis when he doesn't need stealth, they are high enough to be out of reach, besides everybody in the world knows that Uchiha Madara riding this. 

"I bet you will never experience flying again, Tobirama, if I were you I would be enjoying this wholeheartedly." Madara sounds smug again, it's such a turn off for Tobirama, he doesn't care about the meeting they just set or Uchiha at all, all he wants is for himself to get back on his feet so he can go and search for Itama.

"There is no other summon in the world who is faster than Akane-chan." 

She is indeed fast although they are flying with reasonable speed, they got to the jungle between Uchiha and Senju in less than a blink, Akane gracefully lands on Uchiha side quite far from the Senju's home, Tobirama feels a little nauseated from the sudden high difference like Madara warmed him, carefully trying to keep the bland facade on despite his head spinning and some black spot appearing on his vision. 

The thought of Madara man-handling him again like a child as he did on the cave makes him shiver and sweat, however, the Uchiha was so occupied gloating about his summons, the omega barely even paid attention to his rambling about how cute Akane chickens are or how she killed five roguenins and the Uchiha just sat on her head and watched. 

This time is different, Madara is unpredictable so both abandoning him near Senju borders like he promised or capturing him is feasible, either way, he is incapable of fleeing from the man's claws. The raven seems an advocate for peace just as much as Hashirama is and the other wants to meet his anija more than anything so he leans toward trusting the alpha for now. 

Madara, careful of his injuries, carries him like a civilian hime, and says goodbye to Akane, he looks down on him and observes his face with sharingan on, Tobirama just stares at the red chest plates. 

The Uchiha jumps through the wood, Tobirama knows the other can run faster than this but he is prolonging the travel deliberately. 

"I noticed some of your wounds were fatal, tell me what happened, if you want to, of course." 

Tobirama recalls the battles again and without noticing he leans closer to the warmth of the Uchiha, something that Madara noticed to his great embarrassment and holds him closer. The Senju has no idea what his father reaction would be if he tells him Itama is serving under the Minamoto banner and he is alive, Butsuma never was found the second son of his second wife, he has never been affectionate toward his mother either since she was more of a war prisoner than a wife in Butsuma's eyes, the Senju head rather despised her for killing the Lady Senju, legend has it he wasn't such a monster when his first wife was alive, Kaguya Kaemon was the only sensible and sterling human in her clan, offering herself for exchange of resources so the war-hungry asinine wouldn't starve to death in winter, she was the only one in decades to have Shikotsumyaku. The most feared Shinobi before Hashirama and Madara but she died on her bed and couldn't sense the enemy, couldn't defend her one week-year-old daughter because Senju council sealed her chakra and left her defenseless. No, he won't reveal Itama's survival to anyone, Butsuma would get greedy and jump on the chance to get his dirty hands on samurai techniques and sell information to Taira. Tobirama is the one who runs less important missions, he would go after his brother himself. 

"I got ambushed, twenty samurai, one of them was too strong, faster than me when I was weakened at the end."

Madara hums but he probably figured out that there is much more to it, the whole story of him being in a cave with his wounds stitched and clean doesn't add up with the state he has been found in. 

"We meet in a ryokan named Kadan, it's only two hours away from both Uchiha and Senju compound, you can sense me start running toward it so there's no worry about a sudden attack, I bring one of my best shinobi too, Hikaku." 

Then he drops him on the other side of Nakano. 

-

The storm has taken over the west of the continent from the evening and now the hurricane is swirling, Senju clan is protecting their compound with thick long trees that some of them have passed this test numerous times over centuries unlike the groves around other compounds of fire continent these trees are more varied in age and size, an obvious evidence that long ago all of them lived in peace and were protective of each other.

When this time of the year comes, Hashirama starts losing sleep, despite loving nature he detests the rain, Butsuma will always send Tobirama to suicide missions in this season. From weeks before tonight he has been restless and hurting, now walking outside of the compound between trees that are screaming at him is like pressing a finger straight on a throbbing spot and keep it there till your head spins from the pain as the numbness follows.

Trees are telling him that he should go after his brother, to capture and immure him forever in a wooden house without a door. Despite these whispers Hashirama was never a person to revolve around one person, he always sees the bigger picture, if it boils down to it he even will sacrifice himself first and Tobirama the last. He is ready to pay any price to achieve peace. 

The Senju first heir is soaked from head to toe as tears get lost in the rain, Arashi-kun has send a letter two weeks ago announcing his visit, the other man always has something up in his sleeve to make his outoto happy, sometimes Hashirama bring joy to Tobi too but he has never seen him smile or frown, when they were children Hashirama believed this first younger brother is made of ice, or Yuki clan has cursed him with a secret jutsu. 

Sometimes the leaves start yelling at him that Itama is alive it got lesser and lesser after years have passed and the corpse of his favorite brother has never been found, it's just him being in denial, there is no way the other survived fighting an squad of Uchiha adults. 

He longs for his friend, why? Why Madara doesn't respond to him, is it because that their fathers are still alive? Is it because of Tobirama or Izuna? Or is it that the other does not value their dream anymore? No, that can't be true, Madara, his Madara will always put him above all like Hashirama does, his forest always consistent about whispering about that, Hashirama doesn't knows why these trees call him stupid, it doesn't make sense. 

His rambling only ends as does drizzle. 

Being sleep deprived is the cause of his headache that distracts him but the thought of Mito and seeing the small portrait of her that he always keeps in his clothes bring him back to earth, makes the shaking of his foot to stop and lift his spirits. That's enough for him to be useful in the healing room and listening half heartedly to clans problems, apparently the hurricane destroyed two houses, with his wood release Hashirama fixes them both in no time, what about the other clans? How do they protect themselves? 

Night approaches again and Hashirama becomes even more difficult to deal with compared to previous nights, the frustration only lasts till a guard bursts into his office with the news. 

After healing Tobirama and sobbing to death he finally falls asleep beside his brother futon. 

-

After one of the patrols found him and took him to the healing room, Hashirama is the first sight his poor vision shows when he wakes up from dozing off, his anija's eyes roam over him and tears spark in his eyes, Tobirama sees something akin to realization in those hazel eyes. In no time anija's glowing green hand makes all the pain and injuries go away but the other is shedding throughout the whole process, it only gets worse when he sees the gash on his side, after questioning turns out he just left yesterday dawn but so much happens in the span of two days and he has been asleep most of it. 

"You should rest outoto, I won't let you go in your room until I'm sure you are completely healed." 

His brother cries himself to sleep beside him. 

Touka comes to visit him next, she just stands there stares at him with narrowed eyes for some moments. 

"Arashi is coming for a visit tomorrow, he's going to be very heartbroken to see you like this."

He has completely forgotten about Uzumaki coming from Whirlpool for the visit, it's not that he doesn't like Arashi quite the opposite, he has been the only man that has been able to get his attention, with he's long wavy scarlet hair, full lips and cat-like green eyes. Despite the redhead appealing looks Tobirama never had any romantic feelings for the other, maybe he just doesn't know how that feeling is. 

"I know."

Touka cocks her head but he knows she is contemplating another question. Tobirama lied about the whole thing to Hashirama (for now) but if someone were to read his report with keen eyes will be able to tell it's dishonest and somewhat vague. 

"It was very reckless of you to not head back as soon as you sense twenty samurai, can you imagine if the unknown shinobi didn't help you."

Yes, if his last opponent weren't Itama he would have been very dead, _ if _ the last opponent were Itama and had his last survival outoto's ability. Affection blooms in his heart as he thinks of what a fine young man Itama has become. 

"Well, I'm alive and well, Touka, don't sweat it, the whole point of the mission was killing those samurai."

She fumes but just narrows her eyes again and runs out of the healing room strutting, leaving an empty report scroll on his futon. 

The third person that comes to visit him is Arashi, his eyes are teary but the Uzumaki beams at the Senju as soon as Tobirama wakes up. It's noon. 

"Hey there, Tobi." he swallow, then steps forward to grab his hand in his, cupping it between his two calluses hands."I heard what happened from Hashi-nii then I read your report it was less detailed than usual, I know unexpected things happen in missions but-" the other stops himself. "It doesn't matter, I'm glad you are alright, hope you don't mind that I read the report." 

Tobirama gazes at those sincere dark green eyes and somehow his brain drifts to Madara, his heart stutters for less than a second. The half Senju hides his face from the red head and curses himself from having feelings, in war sentiment has no place, only duty and sacrifice. "Arashi I appreciate your concern but I should deliver this report and talk about an important matter to anija."

Arashi soon realizes Tobirama is giving him a cold shoulder and doesn't follow him, Tobirama fights a pang of disappointment creeping in his heart. 

-

Butsuma's wrinkled eyes read over the paper, a deep frown that for many years has been his only expression is sat on his face, his father is not Arashi, doesn't have keen eyes and more than likely has dementia, so soon he is dismissed. Tobirama is aware of Butsuma's real opinion of him but it still upsets the son when the father doesn't even so much as glance at him.

Tobirama shallowly bows before running away from the room to seek out his anija.

Hashirama is in the wild yard he made for himself which most of the time the older goes to release stress and lessen the scream of nature calling for him. Tobirama fights tears at the picture of his brother hiding behind the tallest tree in the compound, made himself small by hugging his knees, shuddering as he basks in afternoon sun. 

"Anija." 

Hashirama practically jumps from his spot when he hears his voice. 

"Oh, Tobi," then he starts stuttering and making obnoxious noises that would have been amusing if Tobirama wasn't aware that he's trying to hide his absolute mess of the previous state. 

"There is no need to explain anija, what I'm here to speak with you about will increase your mood immensely." the younger starts walking towards the wilder and denser part of the yard. 

"What?" Hashirama gasps following him one step behind. 

"Madara was the unknown shinobi that helped me, he -" Tobirama swallows. "He demanded a meeting with both of us, four days from now, I have no idea what he has in mind nor can I guess." Tobirama doesn't need to look behind himself to know Hashirama's eyes are painfully wide and his mouth gapping. "Perhaps despite his display of reluctance toward your babbling about peace that's not how he feels inside, it also might be a sudden change of heart." 

There is a lengthy silence after his monolog but they keep walking until they reach their spot where they used to hide from Butsuma as children, the albino sits on the old brought. 

"I can't -" then his brother smiles so widely it must hurt. "He saved you, that's wonderful Tobi, I knew I could trust him, I knew he still cares about our silly childhood dream." then he sighs dreamily. "I long to see him off the battleground." 

"He will bring Hikaku too, the brown haired man that usually clashes with Touka." 

Hashirama then hugs him, at first too excited but after a moment he becomes aware of his state and loosens his arms. "I swear to our brothers that no matter what I will bring peace to your life, I won't let your life and mind be wasted away in a world that can't appreciate your brilliance, outoto." 

"I believe in you anija, there's no one in the world that I trust more than you." 

-

His eyes hurt and due to his poor vision his temple starts throbbing too. The half Senju hates running missions, it's such a monotonous and repetitive job but somebody got to get it done. Taking a break for some minutes the Senju heir presses his fingers on his eyes which are tearing from fatigue. 

A knock on the shoji door, it's Arashi. 

"Tobi can I come in?" 

"Yes." 

The other man steps in, green eyes gazing at him from time to time shyly but soon he sits on the other side of the low table in the wooden room. 

"I won't waste your time, remember the seal we talked about to improve your vision, well I succeeded and experienced it on someone else back in Uzushio, that's why I wrote a letter to warn I'm coming this year sooner than usual." The other is shyly staring at the tatami mat, Tobirama fights the urge to say something about it, honestly he doesn't like the fake shyness, females or another omega might have even find the behavior and shade of pink on the Arashi's cheeks adorable, it's exactly the way Hashirama gets when Mito is around. Arashi confessed his loves to him three years ago, sending letters to tell him how he thinks about Tobirama everyday, the Senju doesn't like nor deserves the man's attention, the half Kaguya is unable to return such great love but can't break Arashi's heart nor his brothers and Senju need the alliance, lastly Tobirama selfishly can't let Arashi go for the simple fact that nobody has ever held his attention and affection like he does outside of the family, Tobirama still struggles to find romantic interest like one Mito and Hashi have. 

"Oh, that's, that's wonderful Arashi-san." 

"Please call me Arashi, Tobi." a splitting smile on his face that makes Tobirama feel light headed, damn Arashi, he doesn't need distraction now, then he unseals a scroll from the tattoo on his wrist "Shall we try it?" 

Arashi tattoos miniature seals delicately on his eyelids and hide them like all the seals on his body that protect the skin, the tattoos are ruby, from the point he activates them the world become more clear than ever and the first sight Tobirama actually sees is himself in the mirror that Arashi handed over him, he looks like his mother, more than ever. 

"You are so beautiful." Arashi shamelessly points out. "How do they feel, are you comfortable with them?" 

Tobirama stares at his fiance's face and tries not to smile but fails miserably. "Yes, they are absolutely great, I can't express my gratitude, Arashi-san, Arashi, but you should explain how these actually work." 

They are closer to each other more than ever, then the tender skin of Arashi's full lips brush on the pale skin of his cheek. "I didn't know you had dimples." 

-

It's late at night after the Uzumaki explains to hi the mechanism of them and why he placed them on his lids they both do nightly routine after dining and Tobirama again, selfishly demands from Arashi to stay in his room tonight, it wasn't like the man didn't eagerly agreed to him, they can't mate before the wedding so the two merely lay on the futon. 

"I thought you were angry with me when I met you at noon." 

"No, just had a lot in mind." 

They just lay there and hold each other, from what he heard he should feel hot and aroused but Tobirama really just can't, fortunately Arashi's chakra doesn't even have neither lust or desire for something more in it but the albino can sense affection-love-apprehension. He falls asleep. 

-

"Like I said before he was too fast Minamoto-sama, I couldn't track him after he fled, considering that White Demon is a sensor, he avoided me." Arata assured his master, "But the mission was completely sabotaged since we got to win over the marchant."

Hiroshi Genji probably is trying to find a hole in his story to prove the former Senju dishonesty, even if he does, Hiroshi won't demand harakiri, simply the middle aged shogun can't afford to lose the best Minamoto soldier, when Arata alone is winning the war for him against Taira. The advisors that are surrounding him are eyeing suspiciously but their months are shut.

"You are dismissed, Arata-san, well done."

Hiroshi send him to this mission specifically to test his loyalty and quiet the ever jealous advisors who starve for scrap of the head's attention and try to feed Hiroshi that 'A good shinobi is a dead shinobi no matter if they changed their way' but the man is smart enough to run a mission in a way to keep him alive, also his master saw right through Taira's plan and sent him with older samurai that although experienced and valuable now, they would have been useless in couple of years. 

The former Senju likes the Arata name more than Itama, Itama is a symbol of an abusive father, his dead twin brother and practice to fight a war he has nothing to do with, Senju and Uchiha, after six years of being away from that life, those names are nothing but faded and hallowed. 

Opening the door of the small room that he is privileged to have, Arata starts taking off his armor and weapons then begins to clean and polish them to gleam. It's such a simple habit that brings peace to his mind, thoughts pass through his brain one by one, normally it would have been easy to ignore them but after seeing Tobi-nii it's hard not to contemplate on that. 

His brother had lines on his face and body, and the way he fought and planed was truly well-matched to his reputation as ghost and white demon, Arata has no idea why he let Tobi break his mask, he could have easily avoid the attack, maybe it was to let the other know of his survival, to ease the other some pain, after all Arata knows more than anybody in this world the agony of losing a brother, when Kawarama died he never become the same person, all he wanted, was to forget, run away from that life and erase his memory since altering the reality is impossible, his chest tightens again at the thought of Kawarama. Hopefully Tobi-nii will be able to make it to Senju compound after a couple of days and give the news of his survival only to their anija, Arata trusts that Tobirama won't spread the word of his survival. 

After his armor is done he gets to katana half way through it someone knocks on his door. 

"Arata, I brought food." 

"Come in Isas." 

The other is in full armor but as soon as his friend steps in and settles the Onigiri plates on the small low table, Isas takes them off as fast as he can, both of them have similar past and the other is the sole friend he made under Hiroshi Genji's wings. Isas never told him which clan he comes from but silver hair screams Hatake so Arata doesn't really need to ask, the only difference they have is that Isas was brought here when he was seven. 

"When you left, I thought you will never make it back, did you-" the boy trails off, staring at the cold plates between them. 

"Kill him? no, could have, he was shocked to see me and let his guard down." Arata starts eating, there's not much but enough for both of them.

"Then everybody will say you let him go. They start taking shit about you again." 

"Stop swearing, if you do it when one of them hears you, you are screwed." 

"Like I give a fuck," the other rolls his blue eyes shoving the food in his mouth with no manner. "So tell me." 

The Senju doesn't know why Isas seeks every possible way to break samurai rules, it might be for thrill of it but the silver haired boy do it with spite or it might be just the buperty, the two toned boy goes with the latter, Arata himself has great respect for the warriors and tries to play by the rules but there's no denying that it's hard for them since they were born in shinobi clans where lying and killing even from behind (especially from behind) is taught to them at the tender age of three. 

"There is not much to tell, he is the white demon, if I fought him one on one he could have killed me easily, I kinda cheated when I let him break my mask."

There's silence after that as they both finish their dinner. 

"So are you going?" Isas says as they both lean their back on the wall side by side. 

"What? No, it doesn't change anything." he answers to his friend who shakes his head. 

"I doubt it, I think the Senju will come after you, now that he knows his beloved younger brother is out there, there is no way he wouldn't come after you." the Hatake argues, looking at him directly in mismatched eyes. 

"We see what would happen, in this world we don't even know if we are alive tomorrow." 

A thought of Hashirama passes through his head and he chuckles, chest heavy with the memories of Itama. Sometimes giving up and cutting his stomach is such an appealing thought. 

"What are you thinking about, about your clan." Isas whispers as someone is eavesdropping over the shoji door, no one is there but it's still dangerous to speak of these topics. 

"I was thinking about anija, the so-called God of shinobi. When we were kids -" Arata stops himself for a minute, considering if it's right to reveal one of the secrets of his former clan. "When we were kids, after my twin died he made a friend, he always talked about this village after that, where children would be children and everybody would sleep without fear of whether they would live tomorrow or not, a world where civilians are not afraid of shinobi . The friend was Uchiha Madara, I was thinking if he still talks about it, the peace and the village. I was thinking if Tobirama still think of the war and others stupid for not negotiating for peace."

Isas is stunted, eyes wild then he swallows like Arata has just read him a horror story. 

"Uchiha Madara, huh?" the other recovers fast from the shock and a chuckle follows. "I met him once, he is the strangest man that I ever met but absolutely gorgeous." 

"That was the most unexpected shit you've ever said." they both chuckle. 

-

Arata with his fellow samurai goes through morning katas in the hall that is used for the practice when it's raining and the ground is muddy, Hiroshi is just supervising them, if one of his advisors or even himself catch one slacking the punishment will be great and today all their attention is on him, on their best warrior, fools. After the dawn is over he goes to find what mission he is assigned to. 

The fact that the location is near the mountain of Taira brings great joy to him, this way, if he gets lucky, former Senju can check on Tobi-nii and see if he left the cave or not. 

They make it to the area at noon, their task is simple, the group should search this neutral lands to find any activity from enemies, one of the samurai that he doesn't have single clue about is watching and observing him from afar, so again they have chosen him for this mission on purpose because for the most part these weekly checkups are given to lower ranked. 

The ten of them roam over the area all afternoon to find nothing, Taira is too weakened to start building and try to broaden. 

When they start moving back to compound just before the evening, a giant red-tailed Hawk appear flying over the forest, everybody in the continent know that summon and whom it belongs to, Arata heart starts pounding, mind buzzing as the sound of blood streaming fills his ears, fighting against his instinct to run after his brother nearly brings tears to his eyes. 

-

"Isas I brought food." 

His hands are trembling, making the plates knock against each other. Arata can't believe his stupidity, leaving Tobi-nii defendless after he stitched his wounds was reckless no matter how invisible his brother was in his eyes, Arata should have piggybacked him to Senju borders or stayed with him but now Tobirama might be dead, Tobi might be dead and it's his fault. 

The shojo door opens.

"Come in." 

There is tranquility, just the sound of taking off the armor, still clean as yesterday. 

"What happened you look like shit." 

Tears start streaming down his face wiping away the rouge he put on his face to hide his wanness. Itama tells his friend about what he saw but for the most part hiccups interrupt him. 

Isas slaps him with both hands and smashes their foreheads hard enough against each other to draw blood. 

"You should stay strong you hear me Arata, this is not the time you give up, this is not, if you kill yourself I will follow you, you hear me boy, we should." He swallows. "Me and you should stay strong, we should not take the easy way out of this, we promised each other we will never take the easy way out." 

Arata sleeps in Isas room that night crying himself to sleep as the other talks to him and reminds him of their promises. 


End file.
